Sleight of Hand
by Alonna
Summary: AU. A character other than Mara Jade becomes the Emperor's Hand.
1. Prologue

Title: Sleight of Hand

Title: Sleight of Hand

Author: Alonna

Summary: AU. A character other than Mara Jade becomes the Emperor's Hand

Disclaimer: Star Wars and its characters are owned by George Lucas, not me.

Prologue

"_He is, shall we say, an experiment."_

For the six years since the return of the Sith to their true place in the galaxy, Darth Sidious had been occupied with consolidating his power. The destruction of the Jedi had been but the first step as he continued to tighten his stranglehold on the former republic. While the Senate had largely been neutralized as a possible threat, they still were a possible hazard. He still had other enemies who opposed his reign either due to a desire to return the Empire to its former state or to seize power for themselves.

While his apprentice had proved to be very useful, there were some tasks to which he was not properly suited. Vader was too much of a public figure to accomplish jobs of a more delicate nature. As a result, Sidious had begun a new project to fulfill this need. He had arranged for local law enforcement officials to search for force sensitive children who could be taken so he could shape and mold them into servants who would serve him with the utmost loyalty. Unlike Vader, they would be shadowy figures who struck where he ordered and then disappeared until their next assignment. While they would be trained in the Force, they would be neither Sith nor Jedi, merely servants of his will.

The comm buzzed. "Your majesty," said a voice. "We have the boy for you as ordered."

"Bring him to me, Commander."

"As you wish, my Lord."

The door to the throne room slid open and in stepped a pair of former clonetroopers holding a young boy of around five or six between them. The boy's face was streaked with tears, but he stared at Sidious with a look of defiance. "Excellent work, Commander," Sidious said. "I trust that your taking of the boy has been covered up."

"The local imperial liaison has assured me that he has everything under control. He will ensure that no connection is made between you and the boy."

"Make sure it stays that way, Commander. Now leave me with my new apprentice."

"Of course, my Lord." The two men bowed their heads and left, leaving the boy alone with Sidious.

Giving the boy a cruel smile, Sidious said, "Come closer to me, child."

The boy shook his head. "I want to go home. I want my mom and dad."

"I'm afraid you won't be seeing them again, child. You have a far greater destiny in store for you as my servant. Your family is of no consequence anymore."

"You can't make me do anything for you."

"I assure you that I can." Sidious raised his hand, and a flurry of bolts of electricity flew from his fingers into the boy's body. The boy collapsed onto the floor, as his muscles spasmed and twitched. Rising to his feet, Sidious went to where the boy lay on the floor whimpering in pain and grasped his chin firmly. "Do not forget that you belong to me now, child. Once you learn your place, you will serve me well, Corran Horn."

Returning to his seat, Sidious turned on the comm and said, "Send a medical team in immediately. I will be most displeased if my new apprentice is not well by tomorrow."

"As you wish, my Lord," came the response.

Turning his gaze back to his future Hand who had not gotten back up after the lightning attack, Sidious said, "We will begin your training tomorrow. I believe our's will be a very productive relationship."


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

As the sun crept over the spires of buildings in Coronet, its rays fell through the windows of an ordinary, two story house onto the faces of Hal and Nyche Horn. Hal slowly opened his eyes and yawned before leaning over his wife and whispering in her ear, "Good morning, beautiful."

Nyche giggled softly. "You're such a tease, Hal. Sometimes I wonder why I married you."

"I like to think it's because you loved me."

"Possibly."

He rolled over on top of her and kissed her deeply on the lips. Just as he was about to offer up another kiss, Nyche said, "Don't you think we ought to be getting up? You know Corran hates waiting for breakfast."

Hal laughed. "Just five more minutes, Nyche. It's not just any man who gets to wake up next to the most beautiful woman on Corellia every morning."

"You flatter me to much." Giving him a quick peck on the cheek, Nyche slipped out of bed and out the bedroom.

Glancing at the chronometer on the nightstand, Hal rolled out of bed and stumbled over to the fresher adjacent to the bedroom. He had only been working for CorSec for a year, and he sometimes missed the days when he could sleep late into the morning, back when his father was still alive, before Palpatine declared himself Emperor, before Nyche had gotten pregnant with Corran by accident. While he wouldn't trade his son for anything in the galaxy, he and Nyche had been little more than children themselves when Corran was born. Along with the dangers presented by Palpatine's rise, he sometimes wished Corran had come along a few years later than he had.

Now, his days were filled with fears that his Jedi heritage would be discovered. His stepfather had done a good job of altering the records on his part, but part of Hal always worried that something had been missed. He also feared that Corran might do something by accident that would reveal force sensitivity. As a boy, he had always hated the Halcyon deficiencies in telekinesis, but now he considered them a gift because it was one thing he didn't have to worry about Corran doing accidentally.

He splashed some water on his face before grabbing his CorSec uniform from its place in the closet. When he had first entered the CorSec academy three years ago, he had worried that it would put him at risk of being discovered by Palpatine's Jedi hunters, but now he was sure that he had made the right decision. Even though he couldn't serve the citizens of Corellia as a Jedi, he could still serve them in a different manner.

As he slipped his uniform on, he was startled when the door flew open as Nyche burst into the room, a look of intense fear on her face. "Hal!" she cried. "I just went to wake Corran up, and he's not in his room or anywhere else. The front door is unlocked."

Hal stiffened as a million thoughts flew through his head at once. Was it the Jedi hunters? Hal pushed that thought to the side. If the truth of his background had been discovered, someone would have come for him as well. Could Corran have simply wandered outside in the night? No, Hal decided. His son knew better than to go outside without his parents. Hal reached out through the Force to try and find his son, but he felt nothing. Either he was unable to because he was out of practice, Corran was too far away, or he was…Hal stopped that line of thought immediately. His son was not dead.

"Calm down," Hal said, trying to sooth his wife. "Call CorSec on the holo and have them get someone here as soon as possible. I'll call my father. Don't worry. Everything's going to be fine."

Nyche nodded, though she clearly did not believe his words before she rushed downstairs to make the call to CorSec. Hal had wondered many times whether keeping her in the dark about his past was the right thing to do, but he felt that she was safer not knowing the truth. As soon as she was out of hearing distance, Hal shut the bedroom door and turned on the holocomm to call his stepfather. Thankfully, his stepfather was always prompt about answering calls, so his face appeared on the screen immediately. "Hal," he said. "Is something wrong?"

"Corran's missing. When Nyche went to get him up, he wasn't in the house, and the front door is unlocked. I know I locked it last night."

A look of fear crossed Rostek Horn's face. "Do you think you've been…" He trailed off, though Hal knew what he meant.

"Don't worry. Nyche isn't going to hear anything. She's downstairs calling CorSec right now. I doubt anyone from the Empire has found out the truth. If they had, I'd be dead right now."

Rostek nodded slowly. "Don't throw that likelihood out the window yet, Hal. Someone from CorSec will be there as soon as possible. We'll find Corran." Hal nodded before shutting off the holo. He wanted to think that the situation would be resolved and Corran found within the day, but a small part in the back of his mind feared that he wasn't going to see his son again.


End file.
